Janua
/ˈja.nu.a/noun
A Latin noun meaning "door" or "entrance."
Did you know?Janua is the Latin word behind Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and passages, which is why January sits like a symbolic doorway at the start of the year.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“to beget, produce, give birth”
Proto-Italic
PI
*genuā
“door, entrance”
Old Latin
Latin
ianua
“door, gate, entrance”
Classical Latin
Latin
ianua
“door, gateway, entrance”
Modern English
English
janua
“a learned Latin form referring to a door or entrance”